Get Off Pine Sap With Rubbing Alcohol

I got an advertisement from Mary Janes Farm magazine today that told me I could get pine sap off my hands with rubbing alcohol. I will have to try that. So far, the best solution that I've tried is dirt. That requires a lot of scrubbing your hands with dirt to get all the sap off and then a lot off scrubbing your hands with soap and water to get all the dirt off. Alternatively, you can just get enough dirt into the sap that it's not sticky anymore, wash your hands, and live with a dirty spot on your skin until it wears off. Rubbing alcohol sounds like it might be easier.

Picking Strawberries With Nicole

As you may remember, one of the first blog entries I ever made on this blog was "Strawberry Picking" in July of 2010. It contains some very similar pictures of Nicole and me. This time we're at a place called Peoria Farm Market. We were lured there by a coupon for a free tomato plant. Then the strawberries enticed us to stay. 

Nicole looking good in the strawberry patch

Me, looking good in the strawberry patch

A Few Pictures From The Cold Snap

As you may recall, Oregon had a cold spell in January. Everything froze. Facebook abounded with pictures of broken pipes illustrating why they call it a cold "snap". Mom and Dad's furnace stopped working because the drain line froze and it had to be temporarily drained into a bucket. The bucket had to lugged out of the basement to be dumped. It was all very exciting. Here is a picture that I took of the fountain coated in ice. 

The frog looks cold, don't you think?

A close up of the ice.

An October Adventure with Rose Part 2

Yep, Rose definitely sees me trying to sneakily take her picture. 

Uh oh, I think she's taking my picture!f

Gull hangin' out

So our adventure took us down to Alki beach and along the water front.

Cormorant

Same Cormorant but he's looking around

He's still looking around. Yeah I like Cormorants.

Cormorant holding up his wings to dry them while is friends preen. 

The color of the water has changed

The fog retreats

Sunlight through the mist

Pretty leaves

Rose looks a lot like her mom in this picture

The mysterious pathway beckons

We are going to have to climb back up the hill to get back to my house. Good thing our road look exciting. But wait!

What is that poking up above the fog?

Downtown Seattle appears as if by magic

Also the Sea Lions- due to the incredible zoom on my camera you can actually see them better in this picture than you could standing on the beach.  

A few of my favorite things

I put up the hummingbird feeder on the front porch in October. I took this picture the next day.

The feeder gets a lot of visitors

Alex kneading the blanket

Alex- "I love this blanket almost as much as I love you."

Alex- "Aren't you going to pet me now?"

Ember falling asleep rather awkwardly

It seems like I take nearly the same set of pictures every fall.

But for some reason I never get tired of pointing my camera at leaves.

The red and gold part of fall is so beautiful and so short. I guess that's what makes it special. 

I am proud of this picture

Humming Bird and Azalea

The same humming bird and Azalea 2 seconds later

I took this picture on the OSU campus between Merrifield and the music builing (I don't know what it's called). I damaged my lunch in my attempts to get my camera out quickly but I ate it anyway (the lunch that is not the camera). I think the picture was worth it. 

When Spring Begins and Winter Ends

According to me, spring begins when the crocuses start blooming.

Technically, it's still winter. 

This Rhododendron isn't sure what's going on.

But the crocuses know. 

Winter is losing it's grip. The smell in the air is changing.

I found these crocuses blooming in a garden downtown. There was a little yellow crocus blooming in my front yard but the neighborhood deer ate it before I could take a picture. 

Rotten Apples

In this case rotten apples nothing like sour grapes. They are a beautiful gift. They are the decoration of December and January along with holly and mountain ash and all those other shrubs and trees that have berries. They're all beautiful, but I like the apples. That might have something to do with the story I am writing though. Retelling Snow White gets a person thinking about apples.  Mom, what do you think about painting these?

A view on the way home from class

On closer inspection, I think one could safely eat some of these apples but I think I'll just take their picture. 

A view from the garden

Cosmos and Tomatoes in our vegetable garden

A few things I saw today

Alex sleeping on the bed

Russian Sage (I think) blooming a few blocks away

This bunch of Russian Sage grows on 29th St. near the co-op. This plants are one of my favorite things about late summer.

Dad's Garden

Andrew and I went to visit my parents for Father's day. It was good to see them. Micky (the poodle) twirled and twirled. Dad gave me and Andrew a tour of their beautiful garden. I ate all the ripe blueberries. Num num! What a lovely garden. Num, num. The garden really is looking great this year. Their cement raised beds are kick ass. Love you dad. Keep up the good work. Also mom.

First Produce

Yesterday evening, Andrew and I harvested the first produce from our garden this year. Sugar Snap Peas! I ate them. Crunch, crunch. Andrew doesn't like green stuff. We also harvested this year's first artichoke. I haven't eaten it yet, but I will WITH BUTTER. Evil laughter....

My Ten Mile Hike

Two weeks ago tomorrow, I went on a journey. I set out from my house which is near campus, and walked north on 29th street until it reached the McDonald Forest. Here is some of what I saw.

(My enemy, Poison Oak abounds)